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Council tax set to rise by at least £100 for a typical Stortford or Sawbridgeworth household




A typical household in Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth can expect to pay at least £100 more in council tax next year.

East Herts Council is the latest authority to signal a rise in its precept for residents. The cabinet agreed to recommend the maximum increase allowed - 2.99% - an extra £5.65 on a Band D bill, taking the district share of the total demand to £195.52 from April.

Hertfordshire's police and crime commissioner is asking typical householders for £238 next year for law and order. Conservative David Lloyd wants to increase his portion of band D properties' council tax bills by £15 from April, a 6.7% rise on the current levy of £223.

Stock image
Stock image

The Government has assumed that Hertfordshire County Council, which is responsible for the lion’s share of council tax, will impose a maximum 5% increase, adding £80.28 to bring its precept to £1,685.91

The hikes already on the table would add £100.93 to a Band D bill - before either Bishop’s Stortford or Sawbridgeworth Town Council decide if they will increase their demand. Last year their precepts were £68.69 and £105.34 respectively, resulting in an average overall bill of £2,101.91 in Stortford and £2,138.56 in Sawbridgeworth. The increases already pending represent a 4.8% increase for the next financial year.

To balance its books, East Herts Council’s executive has agreed to find more than £5m in savings by 2026.

Cllr Carl Brittain
Cllr Carl Brittain

The authority plans to sell off buildings and pause work on a multi-million-pound arts centre project for Bishop’s Stortford to balance its books.

The 2024/25 budget is the first that the Green and Liberal Democrat administration has had to formulate since they ousted the Conservatives in May.

“Perhaps the biggest issue affecting this council is the level of debt it has accrued,” said Green Party Cllr Carl Brittain, who is the administration’s executive member for financial sustainability.

“Over the past five years, there has been significant capital spending by the previous administration.”

Northgate End multi-storey car park
Northgate End multi-storey car park

East Herts Council has mapped out spending worth £95m on four major projects in recent budgets:

Hertford Theatre – estimated scheme totals have risen from £24.1m to £31m, a cost increase of 28.5 per cent

Hartham Leisure Centre, Hertford – where scheme totals have risen from £11.1m to £13.8m

Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre, Bishop's Stortford
Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre, Bishop's Stortford

Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre, Bishop’s Stortford – which cost £25.2m

Northgate End multi-storey car park, Bishop’s Stortford – which came in roughly 3% under budget at £24.7m

Old River Lane
Old River Lane

Cllr Brittain said: “This was more than the council could finance without substantial borrowing.

“The twin effects of inflation and higher interest rates have combined to firstly increase that debt level as costs rose, and secondly to increase the costs of that interest on the debt.”

Draft budget papers show the authority expects to spend £2.96m on interest payments alone in 2024/25, rising to £3.03m the following year.

Cllr Graham McAndrew
Cllr Graham McAndrew

This money will come from the day-to-day budget, where the net cost of council services has also risen – from a planned £18.2m this year to £21.46m next year.

The projected budget gap in East Herts rises from £183,000 in 2024/25 to £5m in a decade.

In addition to a council tax rise, East Herts Council’s cabinet agreed to explore “invest to save initiatives” and “completion of Hertford Theatre at as low a cost as possible”.

The authority will pause work on a £23.4m arts centre proposal at Bishop’s Stortford’s Old River Lane.

Planners will resume work when “debt levels have fallen sufficiently” enough for new borrowing.

East Herts Council will pay for landscaping work “so that it is an attractive site rather than an undeveloped area blighting [nearby] retail and commercial units”.

The United Reformed Church Hall
The United Reformed Church Hall

The authority will also spend £170,000 on essential maintenance at the United Reformed Church Hall, which was set for demolition as part of the Old River Lane scheme.

Cllr Graham McAndrew attended the meeting on Thursday, December 21. The Conservative member for Bishop’s Stortford Thorley Manor asked the cabinet about its decision to set aside money for the church hall weeks after it chose to shut a swimming pool in another town – Buntingford – over health and safety fears.

He asked the cabinet: “If I were a resident of Buntingford and had seen the programme … for a building that’s up and running, fully operational, and you’ve just closed down a pool in Buntingford – why wouldn’t that [money] be directed to get the Ward Freman Pool in Buntingford operational?”

Cllr Mione Goldspink
Cllr Mione Goldspink

Green Party Cllr Sarah Hopewell, executive member for wellbeing and Hertford Castle ward member, said: “The minimum estimated cost is £543,000.

“Buntingford runs at a loss at the moment of around £10,000 and … any new capital spend has to be able to pay for itself.

“To just invest in those minimum fixes would cost a lot more than £170,000, and to spend £543,000, the pool would still be running at a loss of £10,000 per month.”

Liberal Democrat Cllr Mione Goldspink, deputy leader of the council and Bishop’s Stortford North ward member, said: “I do bitterly regret the situation in which we find ourselves.

“It has come as a great shock and cause of dismay to all of us to find ourselves in this financial position.

“I understand the logic behind all these proposals, and I do know we have to be responsible and we do have to take action.

“It is a bitter pill to swallow, especially for the people of Bishop’s Stortford.”



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